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Amount: Sfr300m Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

New World Group is looking to secure a multi-billion Hong Kong dollar bridge financing to fund the restructuring of the group. A number of lenders have been approached, including Bank of America, Development Bank of Singapore, Deutsche Bank and HSBC. New World Group this week announced a reorganisation of New World Development, New World Infrastructure and Pacific Ports. The aim is to incorporate all assets and debts of New World Services and New World Infrastructure into Pacific Ports.

Sex in the City? Surely not, but even we puritanical Scottish Presbyterians have been to see the blue plaque on the old trading floor of Kleinwort Benson Securities that commemorates steamy hanky-panky many years ago. Also, with so many young bankers staring at silent telephones and wondering whether they will have a job in the New Year, it isn't at all surprising that inter-office thoughts turn to the birds and the bees.

The mandate to arrange the Eu125m-Eu130m three year facility for OTP will be awarded in the next few days. Frontrunner for the role of mandated lead arranger is DZ Bank, followed by WestLB.

Following the merger of Conoco and Phillips, the new management has decided to finance the Immingham power project on balance sheet. Accordingly, the £275m 20 year project finance facility put in place by arranger RBS earlier this year will be cancelled and pre-paid. The deal proved more expensive than first planned due to the flex that was needed to help the deal clear an unenthusiastic market.

Immersat (International Mobile Satellite) could be the subject of another jumbo LBO. The UK-based satellite operator is discussing a buy-out as an alternative to an IPO.

ABN Amro, BayernLB, HSBC and JP Morgan have been mandated by Imperial Tobacco to arrange the refinancing of an acquisition facility signed earlier this year. The old deal funded the borrowerís takeover of German tobacco company Reemtsma. The new facility will be a Eu4bn loan featuring much tighter pricing than the event driven financing it refinances.

Securities regulators from the state of Massachusetts, frustrated with the inaction of the SEC, filed their own lawsuit against Credit Suisse First Boston this week, charging the bank with misleading investors and demanding the separation of its research and investment banking operations. The complaint charges CSFB with misleading investors about the influence that its investment banking operation exerted on research analysts. William Galvin, secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, responsible for issuing the charges, is seeking to fine CSFB $2m and split up its underwriting and advisory work from equity research and IPO allocations.

Deustsche Bank has arranged a ¥18.240bn 16 year term loan for National Hydroelectric Power Corp. The facility is guaranteed by the Government of India and also carries further support from the Nippon Export and Investment Corp (NEXI) under its Overseas United Loan Insurance programme. Co-arrangers are HSBC, ING Bank, Standard Chartered, SG and State Bank of India.

Russian health and beauty retailer 36.6 has hired ING to examine the possibility of a $30m IPO. Sentiment towards Russian equities has improved over recent months as was seen by the response to the Russian government offering of a $700m stake in LUKoil in July. It was only the extreme price sensitivity of the government that prevented Morgan Stanley from completing the offering.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: $500m

"Six months ago, deflation was seen as a remote possibility, maybe even an eccentric idea," says Lee Thomas, global strategist at Pimco in Newport Beach, California. "Today, it's not so remote. It's certainly a possibility in both the US and Europe one year from now." Despite the 15% rebound in the Dow Jones Industrial Average since October 9, a growing number of investors and economists believe that deflationary risks have increased over the past few months to the extent that it is the greatest danger facing the global economy.